Response from Jhnny Isakson Re Health Care Reform

Dear Mr. Shirk:



Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform. I appreciate the comments you have shared with me and the opportunity to respond.



As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee as well as a former small business owner, I am aware of the problems our nation faces regarding health care, and am sensitive to the struggles the average, hard-working American faces when trying to gain access to adequate and affordable health care. I agree we must look for solutions to find ways to provide affordable health care to individuals who lack access to health insurance through an employer.



On July 15, I voted against a health care reform bill that was crafted exclusively by Senate Democrats. Republicans were shut out of the drafting of the bill, and numerous attempts to improve the bill in Committee were blocked by Committee Democrats. The bill passed out of Committee by a vote of 13 to 10. As written, this bill will do nothing to alleviate the financial burden of health care costs or raise the standard of care. This flawed health care reform bill will cost U.S. taxpayers over $1 trillion dollars and will place a massive financial burden on Georgia and other states to pay for a proposed 50 percent expansion of Medicaid eligibility.



I believe that the government-run "public option" plan included in this bill will end up decreasing choice and quality for consumers. It also will place the federal government in unfair competition with private health insurers and managed care providers, as it will be impossible for private entities to compete fairly with the government that regulates them, taxes them, and is exempt from having to pay taxes itself. I also oppose a mandate in the bill that will require employers with more than 25 workers to provide insurance or pay a penalty. I believe that provision would force many small businesses to eliminate jobs.



With a likely cost of more than $1 trillion, I am disappointed that the Committee rejected several amendments designed to reduce frivolous medical lawsuits. These lawsuits dive up health care costs by forcing physicians to purchase expensive malpractice policies and practice defensive medicine by ordering wasteful tests and procedures.









This bill will also expand the number of individuals eligible for Medicaid by allowing individuals earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for full Medicaid benefits. Currently, Medicaid is available to only those who earn up to 100 percent of the poverty level, meaning that the new plan represents a 50 percent increase in Medicaid. When Medicaid was first created in 1968, Georgia's total Medicaid spending was nearly $7.7 million, or 1 percent of all state spending. In 2008, Georgia's total Medicaid spending was over $2.4 billion, or 12 percent of all state spending. This new proposal would cost Georgia and other states billions of additional dollars to meet the 50 percent increase for their required share of Medicaid costs.



There are many good proposals from the Republican side of the aisle on how to address health care reform in creative ways. Many of these proposals focus on health care coverage through a private market provider-an idea that I support-rather than single-payer government insurance. Access to insurance through a private entity will increase choice for the consumer and quality for the patient. Numerous Republican amendments designed to reign in out-of-control spending and achieve true, effective reform were rejected.



I am a co-sponsor of S.1099, the Patient's Choice Act of 2009, which seeks to strengthen the relationship between patient and doctors by using choice and competition, rather than health care rationing and restriction, to contain costs and ensure affordable health care for all Americans. For more information on the Patient Choice Act please visit my website at http://isakson.senate.gov/healthcare.html.



Thank you again for contacting me and for your advocacy on behalf of health care reform. Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/ for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.


Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator